Rickey Henderson

[Andy]

Since the BBWAA/Veterans committee seems more interested how much they "liked" the player, not how well they played... Does Henderson get in first ballot?

His stats undoubtedly put him in the Hall. But he wasn't well liked. So is that what it takes these days?

[Butcher]

He'll get in, first ballot -- no doubt about it.

Unless, of course, he decides to play for the Lansing Lugnuts in '09.

[savant]

Rickey would just like to say that Rickey was the best leadoff hitter of all time.

[PcB]

<!--quoteo(post=2528:date=Dec 8 2008, 06:22 PM:name=savant)-->QUOTE (savant @ Dec 8 2008, 06:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Rickey would just like to say that Rickey was the best leadoff hitter of all time.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I was seriously just about to post something along those lines.

" Listen, Rickey know that Rickey is the greatest base taker of all the times. It's just a matter of everybody knowing Rickey is the best. Why do you think Rickey took home 2nd base? Huh? Because Rickey ate second base for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rickey's glad to be in the hall of fame, but Rickey's not done yet. Come see Rickey opening day for the Lansing Lugnuts. Rickey's gonna steal every base they give him come this summer. Rickey guarantees that. Rickey."

[Runnys]

There is something seriously wrong if Henderson doesn't get in on the first ballot.

[dk123]

<!--quoteo(post=2546:date=Dec 8 2008, 07:16 PM:name=PcB)-->QUOTE (PcB @ Dec 8 2008, 07:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=2528:date=Dec 8 2008, 06:22 PM:name=savant)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (savant @ Dec 8 2008, 06:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Rickey would just like to say that Rickey was the best leadoff hitter of all time.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I was seriously just about to post something along those lines.

" Listen, Rickey know that Rickey is the greatest base taker of all the times. It's just a matter of everybody knowing Rickey is the best. Why do you think Rickey took home 2nd base? Huh? Because Rickey ate second base for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rickey's glad to be in the hall of fame, but Rickey's not done yet. Come see Rickey opening day for the Lansing Lugnuts. Rickey's gonna steal every base they give him come this summer. Rickey guarantees that. Rickey."
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

[coolpoppa]

Henderson defined himself as an elite leadoff man/baserunner for a lengthy amount of time. He was the best during his time period. That, unfortunately, is something Santo doesn't posses. It doesn't mean that Santo shouldn't be in, but I don't think you can compare Santo and Henderson as far as voting goes. Henderson is a first timer and that has no impact on Santo not getting in or how many times it took Sandberg to get in.

[kbwsb]

I think the real issue here is not whether Rickey will get in on the first-ballot, it's whether he'll get the highest number of votes in HOF history.
With the internet, and increasing accountability for the voters, it's becoming harder and harder for some asshole sportswriter in Bumfuck, OR to say "No sir, Cal Ripken is not a HOFer," or "Nope, the all-time leader in RUNS SCORED is not a HOFer."

[Coldneck]

<!--quoteo(post=4243:date=Dec 12 2008, 02:52 PM:name=KBwsb)-->QUOTE (KBwsb @ Dec 12 2008, 02:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I think the real issue here is not whether Rickey will get in on the first-ballot, it's whether he'll get the highest number of votes in HOF history.
With the internet, and increasing accountability for the voters, it's becoming harder and harder for some asshole sportswriter in Bumfuck, OR to say "No sir, Cal Ripken is not a HOFer," or "Nope, the all-time leader in RUNS SCORED is not a HOFer."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

He will most definitely get the highest number of votes because the Baseball Writer's Association adds new voters every year. The real question is whether he gets the highest percentage of votes. Joe Posnanski wrote an article about this. Click HERE if you are interested.

Here's a blurb:

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Baseball writing cowboy Tracy Ringolsby brought up an interesting point about why Rickey Henderson should get 100 percent of the Hall of Fame vote. Henderson, of course, will not get 100 percent of the vote because NOBODY gets 100 percent of the vote*. It’s one of those bizarre quirks of the Baseball Writers voting, bizarre because at some point there were some among the baseball writers who started to take PRIDE in the quirk, started feeling gratified by the fact that Willie Mays and Babe Ruth and Mike Schmidt and Tom Seaver and Stan Musial and Hank Aaron did not get every vote. I guess they thought (think) of themselves as guardians of the gate.

Here is a quick list of the players who were closest to unanimous, not by percentage but by how many votes they missed:

1. Ty Cobb, 4 missed votes (222 of 226)
2. Tom Seaver, 5 missed votes (425 of 430)
3. Nolan Ryan, 6 missed votes (491 of 497)
4. Cal Ripken, 8 missed votes (537 of 545)
5. George Brett, 9 missed votes (488 of 497)
6. Hank Aaron, 9 missed votes (406 of 415)
7. Bob Feller, 10 missed votes (150 of 160)
– This was in the odd year of 1962, when only 160 writers voted — by far the fewest in the history of the Hall. Jackie Robinson was elected the same year with 77.5% of the vote — 36 people did not vote for him.
8. Babe Ruth, 11 missed votes (215 of 226)
tie Honus Wagner, 11 missed votes (215 of 226)
– Of course both of them were in the original class; I’ve wondered if the same 11 people did not vote for Ruth and Wagner — call them the 11 curmudgeons of their time.
10. Tony Gwynn, 13 missed votes (532 of 545)
– This was the same year as Ripken, of course, and I’ve already noted that (at least) five people voted for Ripken who did not vote for Gwynn. I still find this fascinating — that means five voters drew their Hall of Fame line right there between Ripken and Gwynn; to them, yes, Ripken was deserving but Gwynn, no, not quite.
11. Mike Schmidt, 16 missed votes (444 of 460)
12. Johnny Bench, 16 missed votes (431 of 447)
13. Steve Carlton, 19 missed votes (435 of 455)
14. Ted Williams, 20 missed votes (282 of 302)
15. Willie Mays, 23 missed votes (409 of 432)
16. Stan Musial, 23 missed votes (317 of 340)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's right, eleven people did not vote for Babe Ruth.

[kbwsb]

Yeah, this horse shit kind of voting goes back to the very first vote. And it continued.

For example, <b>neither</b> Yogi Berra, nor Joe DiMaggio got in on the 1st ballot. Think about that. Over a quarter of the electorate did not consider either the greatest catcher of all-time OR The Yankee Clipper to be HOF material.

Did you know that between them, they have 19 rings? Nine-TEEN. (two or three were won when they were on the same team.)

Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn and Ernie Banks COMBINED have zero rings.
Those guys who won 19 World series?
Fuck 'em. They ain't Hall of Famers... who you kiddin'?

[kbwsb]

Hey

[Clapp]

<!--quoteo(post=4441:date=Dec 13 2008, 12:32 AM:name=KBwsb)-->QUOTE (KBwsb @ Dec 13 2008, 12:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hey<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sup

[biggz]

<!--quoteo(post=4442:date=Dec 13 2008, 01:31 AM:name=Clapp)-->QUOTE (Clapp @ Dec 13 2008, 01:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=4441:date=Dec 13 2008, 12:32 AM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Dec 13 2008, 12:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hey<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sup
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yo

[Mikey]

<!--quoteo(post=4444:date=Dec 13 2008, 01:52 AM:name=biggz)-->QUOTE (biggz @ Dec 13 2008, 01:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=4442:date=Dec 13 2008, 01:31 AM:name=Clapp)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Clapp @ Dec 13 2008, 01:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=4441:date=Dec 13 2008, 12:32 AM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Dec 13 2008, 12:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hey<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sup
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yo
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hi!

[Destined]

<!--quoteo(post=4459:date=Dec 13 2008, 05:43 AM:name=Mikey)-->QUOTE (Mikey @ Dec 13 2008, 05:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=4444:date=Dec 13 2008, 01:52 AM:name=biggz)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (biggz @ Dec 13 2008, 01:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=4442:date=Dec 13 2008, 01:31 AM:name=Clapp)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Clapp @ Dec 13 2008, 01:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=4441:date=Dec 13 2008, 12:32 AM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Dec 13 2008, 12:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hey<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sup
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yo
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hi!
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Wasssssssuuuuuup.